My New Best Friend (6 page)

Jenna flicks her green braids off her sharp shoulders. "Maybe it was too late to go back and get another one, okay?" she snaps. "Besides, Ida probably doesn't even want to be in my club. She's always saying clubs are stupid."

Everyone looks at me, waiting for an answer.

I don't say anything. I just stand there, wishing I wasn't the only one still wearing springy stars on top of my head.

"Well, if Ida isn't in the club then I'm not either," Stacey says. She starts to pull off her nymph shirt. So does Randi. Then Brooke. Then Meeka and Jolene.

Jenna's hands shoot up like a school crossing guard. "Keep your shirts on!" she shouts.

Everyone freezes.

Jenna crosses her arms and taps the toe of her clog. Then she peels off
her
nymph shirt and shoves it at me. "I'll make another one tonight," she says. "It should be different, anyway, since I'm the club leader."

The bell rings and Jenna kicks the empty bag out of the way. She starts herding all the Do-Good Nymphs into the classroom. Stacey picks up her stuff and glances back at me. "Coming, Ida?" she asks.

"In a minute," I say, holding up the shirt Jenna jammed into my hands. "I want to put this on first."

Stacey nods and lets Jenna yank her inside.

As soon as everyone's gone, I open my backpack and find a black marker—the smelly kind that doesn't wash off. I lay the shirt on the floor and study the nymph.

I give her a few fangs.

And one capital
V
eyebrow.

And several spiders in her long, wavy hair.

Then I change the swirly
D
in
Do
to an
N.

I take off my springy stars and pull the shirt on.

I read myself and grin.

When I get inside the classroom the first thing I notice is Mr. Crow. He's sitting at his desk looking a lot less green than the last time I saw him.

"Hi, Mr. Crow," I say. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much better. Thanks, Ida," he says back. "It sounds like Mrs. Eddy handled things while I was gone?"

I nod. "She read some more myths to us. She even told us about her favorite one."

"Which one?" Mr. Crow asks.

"The one about Zeus and how he almost got eaten by his father, just like most of his unfortunate brothers and sisters. But then Zeus's grandmother hid him in a cave until he was old enough to stand up to his father and make him cough up the other kids."

Mr. Crow smiles. "That's one of my favorite myths, too," he says. "Did Mrs. Eddy mention where the cave was located?"

I think for a moment. "Nope," I say. "She only mentioned that Zeus's grandmother was Gaia, goddess of the Earth, which made Jenna's day."

Mr. Crow leans back in his chair and grins. "The cave was located on a mountain called Mount
Ida,
" he says.

I give Mr. Crow a very serious squint. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," Mr. Crow says. "You share a name with a famous Greek landmark!"

"Who's Ida named after?" I hear someone say.

I turn and see one of the Dylans walking up to Mr. Crow with a note in his hand.

Mr. Crow takes the note and says, "Not
who. What.
Mount Ida is a famous mountain on the island of Crete."

"Cool!" Dylan says.

"What's cool?" Randi asks on her way to the pencil sharpener.

"Ida's named after a famous Greek mountain!" Dylan says.

"Actually, I'm named after my grandmother," I mumble. "Only she's not famous. I don't even think she's Greek."

Randi snorts. "At least you're not named after a restaurant," she says.

"You're named after a
restaurant?
" Dylan asks.

"Yep," Randi replies. "
RANDI'S RESTAURANT. HOME OF THE WORLD FAMOUS PIG SKIN FRIES.
I popped out under the neon sign. My dad figured they should either name me Randi or Pig Skin. My mom went with Randi."

"Wow," Dylan says, all impressed. "I wish I was named after something famous."

"There's a famous singer named Bob Dylan," Mr. Crow offers.

"A
singer?
" Dylan says. "Isn't there a volcano or a ditch or something named Dylan?"

"Not that I know of," Mr. Crow replies.

Dylan sighs and trudges to his desk.

Randi heads to the pencil sharpener.

I turn toward my desk, but before I can take a step Jenna is in my face. "Excuse me, Mount Ida," she says. "The Do-Good Nymphs are meeting during recess." She pushes a piece of notebook paper
at me. I take it and see a nymph drawn at the top, just like the one that used to be on my T-shirt.

Do-Good Nymphs Meeting
WHEN: Today (at recess)
WHERE: In the Pigpen
WHO: ALL nymphs
(Attendance is required!!)

Jenna turns away, but as she does she glances at my shirt. "How come your nymph has
fangs?
" she asks. "And
spiders?
"

I glance down at my shirt. Then I glance up at Jenna. "Marker malfunction?"

Jenna huffs and stomps away.

Later, when it's time for recess, Jenna grabs a clipboard from her desk and we all head to a circle of hedges on the playground that our custodian, Mr. Benson, trimmed to look like hogs. Joey started calling the space in the middle of the hedgehogs the pigpen. Get it? Now everyone calls it that.

We all sit in a circle on the grass. Except for
Brooke, who doesn't believe in sitting on grass. And Jenna, who doesn't believe in circles.

"First, I'll read my club rules," Jenna announces.

"
Rules?
" we all groan.

Jenna nods. "Every club needs rules," she says. "That's a rule." She starts reading from her clipboard.

"Rule #1: Attendance is required at all meetings."

"So far, so good," I mumble.

"Rule #2: "Nymphs must do good deeds to earn leaves."

Randi reaches over and smashes a bug that's crawling across Brooke's shoe. Brooke yelps like a small dog and practically jumps over a hedgehog. Randi holds up her buggy hand. "Gimme a leaf," she says.

All Jenna gives Randi is a look. "Rule #3: Nymphs do not
destroy
nature."

Randi wipes her hand on the grass, grinning.

"Rule #4: The nymph that does the most good deeds earns a special prize."

"What kind of prize?" Brooke asks. Her eyes go all glinty again.

"I already told you, Brooke," Jenna says. "I'll decide. The one who deserves it the most will get it at our next meeting."

"When's that?" Meeka asks.

"Tomorrow, right after dance," Jenna says.

"I don't go to dance," Randi says.

"Me, neither," I add.

Jenna does an impatient sigh. "Then you'll just have to wait for us at the park," Jenna says to me and Randi.

Jenna clips her pen to her clipboard. "Now it's time to patrol the playground."

"Huh?" we all chime in.

"Do-good nymphs make sure everyone is following the rules and no one is hurting nature." She shoots a look at Randi.

Jenna herds us out of the pigpen. We follow her around the playground looking for first graders who are tangled in swing chains, and second graders who need a lecture about sharing jump ropes, and third graders who are tearing wings off flies.

Just as the bell rings, Jenna sees Joey and Dominic trying to karate chop a stick in half. "Break that stick and I break your necks!" Jenna shouts from across the playground.

Joey and Dominic drop the stick and run inside.

When we get back to our classroom it's time to practice our spelling words. But my brain is so nymphalized, I leave the
H
off
honesty
and give
confront
two
Us.

After Mr. Crow has us chant out our extra-big bonus word ("MYTH!...O!...LOG!...I!...CAL!"), Jenna just can't help herself. She jumps up and tells all about her new club. She even makes me, Stacey, Brooke, Randi, Meeka, and Jolene stand up and model our new club shirts.

"Maybe the Do-Good Nymphs would like to plan a presentation for our Greek Day parents' program?" Mr. Crow suggests.

Jenna's green braids practically start clapping. "Of course!" she says.

Mr. Crow gives Jenna a smile. "In fact, everyone needs to start planning their presentations. It's only a couple weeks away."

"What kind of presentation?" Tom asks.

"Anything you want," Mr. Crow says. "Sing a song, do a skit, read a poem—anything that has to do with a Greek myth."

Jenna's hand shoots up. "What about a dance?" she asks.

"A dance would be great!" Mr. Crow replies. Jenna yanks her clipboard out of her desk and starts writing.

When I get home after school, my mom is sitting at the kitchen table going through a stack of mail.

"Hi, Ida!" she says, glancing up at me. "How was school?"

"Oh, you know," I say. "The usual."

She gives me a smile. Then she reads my shirt. "The No-Good Nymphs?" she asks.

"It's a new club Jenna started," I say. "We had our first meeting today and we have another one after school tomorrow so I'll be getting home a little late."

"A new club sounds like fun," Mom says.

"Some are," I say back.

I fish around in the stack of mail. "Um ... did you get any ... notes today?"

"Nope, just bills," Mom says, tearing open an envelope.

"No, I mean
notes.
The kind that come on scraps of paper."

Mom thinks for a moment. "I don't remember getting any notes," she says. "Why? Did you leave one?"

I fidget a little. "I might have," I say. "On the piano. Didn't you see it?"

"No," she says, getting up from the table. "I don't give piano lessons on Wednesdays. I'll read it right now."

"Um ... maybe it would be better if..."

Before my brain can churn up a reason why she should skip reading the note until I have time to practice answering any questions that might come up, she takes off for the piano, finds the note, and reads it on her way back to me.

"You want Stacey to spend the weekend?" she asks, looking up from the note.

I nod.

"Did Stacey ask her mom?"

I nod again.

"And it's okay with her dad?"

I nod a third time.

"Well, then, it sounds like a great plan." She
tosses the note onto the table. "Get washed up and then you can help me start supper, okay?"

I nod a fourth time and hurry to the bathroom. I close the door behind me and do an extra-big sigh of relief because nodding doesn't require any imagining at all.

I walk over to the sink and turn on the water. I pump soap into my hand. Then I start scrubbing. Suds and germs plop into the sink and slide down the drain. I scrub my arms, too. And clip my nails.

Then I go back to the kitchen feeling very clean.

After supper, I call Stacey. "Guess what?" I say. "It's for extra sure now. You can spend the weekend with me."

Stacey does an excited little squeal. "Guess what else? My dad called earlier and while we were talking I remembered to cough twice and sneeze three times. When he asked if I was catching a cold I said, 'I think maybe I am,' and then he said, 'I hope you're feeling better by the weekend,' and I said, 'Oh, I'm sure I will be,' and then I sneezed
again.
So now when I call him on Friday to say that I'm sick it won't sound made up at all!"

"Wow," I say. "You are so good at ... um ... imagining."

"It's easier now that the mermaid is putting ideas into my head," Stacey says. "I can't wait for the weekend!"

"I can't wait, too," I say back. "Just you and me!"

"And the mermaid!" Stacey adds.

he next morning, I get to the bus stop extra early so my mom won't be tempted to start a long conversation about my weekend plans with Stacey. The first person to show up is Rachel.

"Where's Jenna?" I ask.

"She's running a little late," Rachel says. She holds up her wrist so I can see her frog watch. The frog's tongue ticks off the seconds. "My dad got it for me last night at Buzz's Bait Shop. We needed groceries."

"They sell groceries at Buzz's Bait Shop?" I ask.

Rachel nods. "Milk and eggs and wax worms," she says. "Only they keep that stuff in the cooler, not the bargain bin. That's where he found my new watch and Jenna's new shirt."

Rachel checks her frog again. "She should be here in seven," she says.

I nod and notice Quinn and Tess coming around the corner toward us.

"Yes, it's a busy time in my family," Rachel continues. She pulls a red crayon and a pad of yellow sticky notes from her pocket. "Busy, busy, busy." She writes scribbles and numbers on the pad. Then she pulls off the note and hands it to me.

"What's this for?" I ask, taking the note from her and studying the scribbles.

"If you need to reach me," she says.

"Um ... okay," I say and stick the note to my sleeve.

Rachel gives me a nod. "I need you to be a good helper until things get back to normal," she adds.

"Um ... okay," I say again.

Then Rachel starts in on another note. More scribbles and a few letters. She's still too little to write real words.

As soon as Quinn and Tess get to the bus stop Rachel holds the sticky note out to Tess. "In case of emergency," she says.

Tess frowns at the scribbles. "No, thank you," she replies.

Rachel frowns back. "I don't want to hear another word!" she shouts and jabs the note at Tess.

Tess takes it and sticks it to her shoe.

Rachel makes her face go soft. She pats Tess's shoulder. "I'm sorry I yelled. I've just been so tired lately."

I glance up and see our bus coming around the corner.

I look down the street, but there's still no sign of Jenna.

Rachel looks, too. "Her meeting probably went longer than expected," she says. She bites her bottom lip and shifts a little in her shoes.

Just as the bus slows to a stop, I see Jenna running down the sidewalk toward us.

The doors open, but Rachel doesn't budge. Quinn pulls Tess past her and they climb on.

"You get on," I tell Rachel. "I won't let the bus leave without Jenna."

Rachel looks up at me. Then she climbs onto the bus. She stops at the top of the stairs, scribbles another note, and hands it to the bus driver. "I would appreciate a little more cooperation," she says.